Coca-Cola HBC upbeat on full year after first-half profit rises

* Profit improvement better than analysts expected

* Emerging market restructuring brought forward

* Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) up 5.5 pct, top gainer in FTSE 100 (Adds CEO comments, shares)

By Martinne Geller

LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Soft drink bottler Coca-Cola HBC forecast modest sales volume growth for the full year after a roughly flat first half, citing slowing declines in Russia and continued growth in Nigeria, helping to lift its shares more than 5 percent.

The company, which bottles Coca-Cola drinks in 28 countries, also reported a bigger-than-expected improvement in earnings, helped by cost-cutting and lower commodity costs.

Its shares were the top gainer on London's FTSE 100 index , up 5.5 percent at 0810 GMT.

Comparable earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 4.8 percent to 229.6 million euros in the six months to July 1, topping consensus estimates of around 220 million, according to analysts. Its EBIT margin was 7.5 percent, up from 7 percent a year ago.

Sales revenue fell 3.4 percent to 3.04 billion euros ($3.4 billion), but rose 2.4 percent excluding currency fluctuations. It rose 3 percent excluding the impact of one less selling day, which will be given back in the second half of the year.

The company cited price increases, selling more higher-priced drinks, and volume growth in markets including Nigeria and Romania.

Overall volume though was up 0.1 percent.

Despite tough comparisons with a strong year-earlier period, the company said volumes "held up well" in July, making it confident of "volume growth for the year as a whole".

"We do forecast an improvement (in the back half)," Chief (Taiwan OTC: 3345.TWO - news) Executive Dimitris Lois told reporters. "This improvement reflects one more selling day and additional initiatives we have focusing on very strong marketing calendars."

The company is also bringing forward some restructuring initiatives from 2017 into 2016, primarily in emerging markets like Russia and Nigeria. It now plans to spend 48 million euros this year, instead of 35 million euros, so it can more quickly benefit from the resulting operational efficiencies.

It said volumes in emerging markets should improve as declines in Russia slow and Nigeria grows, despite the recent depreciation of the Nigerian currency.

After a slowdown in the second quarter, resulting from the devaluation, Lois said conditions in the country should normalise, and he reaffirmed his forecast for Nigerian sales to rise at a mid- to high-single-digit rate this year.

In June, the company said its medium-term forecast called for average annual revenue growth of 4 to 5 percent through 2020, with operating expenses dropping to 26 to 27 percent of revenue and an EBIT margin rising to 11 percent. ($1 = 0.8957 euros) (Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; editing by Susan Thomas)